Islamic Fulani radicals murdered seven Christians in a Nigerian town the day after Christmas, according to persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern.
The ICC, which has been documenting the targeted killings of believers in Nigeria, said that armed Fulani militants attacked the town of Rawuru in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State on Wednesday.
The village suffered another deadly incident in June, when 230 Christians were murdered by militants.
“The size and coordination of those attacks showed that this could not just be another small local clash. It was clearly a well thought out and preplanned attack meant to kill as many people as possible,” ICC said.
“These types of attacks are not the normal farmer-herder conflict that the Nigerian government has been trying to claim they are,” they continued, referring to both government and international mainstream media reports attempting to portray the murders as a result of clashes between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and Christian farmers.
“They are clearly meant to kill, terrify, and displace local villagers from their land. If the Nigerian government does not end this conflict sometime soon, there could be continued violent conflict which turns into a civil war.”
AFP also reported on the attack in Rawuru, though it said that five people were killed, while another two were injured.
State police spokesman Tyopeeve Terna said the victims were returning home late Wednesday from a birthday party in the neighboring Pugu village when they were ambushed.
Terna vowed that police will hunt down the killers and bring them to justice.
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Stoyan Zaimov
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